13 Apr 2018: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS1 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

B. GS2 Related

• The Centre has informed the Delhi High Court that it is in the process of issuing guidelines to ban the manufacture, import, sale and any kind of trade in e-cigarettes, dubbing it a “new emerging threat”.
• It said the flavouring agent in e-cigarettes was intended towards attracting the youth to a “new nicotine delivery product”.
• The glamorising marketing techniques of ENDS as a less harmful product purely mimics the marketing techniques used by the cigarette industry for slim- or low-tar cigarettes and are youth-oriented.
• The Ministry submitted that the chief constituent of e-cigarettes was nicotine, which was addictive.
• It also has a high level of toxicity and can lead to development of cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, have adverse effect on the immune and gastrointestinal systems, and raise the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women.
• Though there are no specific guidelines to deal with e-cigarettes, several State governments and Union Territories have taken steps to prohibit it.

E- Cigarettes

• An electronic cigarette or e-cigarette is a handheld electronic device that simulates the feeling of tobacco smoking. It works by heating a liquid to generate an aerosol, commonly called a “vapor”, that the user inhales.
• Using e-cigarettes is sometimes called vaping. The liquid in the e-cigarette, called e-liquid, is usually made of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine, and flavorings. Not all e-liquids contain nicotine.
• The health risks of e-cigarettes are uncertain. They are likely safer than tobacco cigarettes but are of unclear effect in relation to other methods of stopping smoking. Their long-term health effects are not known.
• They may help some smokers quit. When used by non-smokers, e-cigarettes can lead to nicotine addiction, and there is concern that children could start smoking after using e-cigarettes
• E-cigarettes create an aerosol, commonly called vapor.Its exact composition varies. The majority of toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke are absent in e-cigarette aerosol.
• Those present are mostly below 1% corresponding levels in tobacco smoke. The aerosol can contain toxicants and traces of heavy metals at levels permissible in inhalation medicines, and potentially harmful chemicals not found in tobacco smoke at concentrations permissible by workplace safety standards.
• However, chemical concentrations may exceed the stricter public safety limits.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a new 10-step guidance to increase support for breastfeeding in health facilities that provide maternity and newborn services, which provide the immediate health system platform to help mothers initiate breastfeeding within the first hour and breastfeed exclusively for six months.
• Breastfeeding all babies for the first 2 years would save the lives of more than 8,20,000 children under age 5 annually, noted a release issued by the WHO.
• The guidelines describe how hospitals should have a written breastfeeding policy in place, required staff competencies, and antenatal and post-birth care, including breastfeeding support for mothers.
• It also recommends limited use of breast milk substitutes, rooming-in, responsive feeding, educating parents on the use of bottles and pacifiers, and support when mothers and babies are discharged from hospital.
• Breastfeeding saves lives. Its benefits help keep babies healthy in their first days and last well into adulthood.
• But breastfeeding requires support, encouragement and guidance. With these basic steps, implemented properly, we can significantly improve breastfeeding rates around the world and give children the best possible start in life.
• WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that in many hospitals and communities across the world, the question whether a child can be breastfed or not can make the difference between life and death.

C. GS3 Related

• Promoters are increasingly becoming dependent on pledging their shares to raise capital, which is viewed as a risky proposition, especially in a volatile market.
• Data from the BSE shows that the number of companies with promoters pledging their shares increased last quarter, with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) tightening their grip in an area of lending where mutual funds have also become quite active.
• NBFCs are becoming more dominant in this space as the overall risk appetite of banks is going down due to their own challenges.
• Capital market has risks and there have been instances in the past when stocks have been hammered during bearish periods. Also, NBFCs have lesser restrictions compared to banks.
• According to a recent analysis by Prime Database, Kotak Group was one of the biggest players in this segment, with the NBFC and mutual fund arms of Axis Group, ICICI Group and HDFC Group also being among the top entities.

Limitations of banks

• Banks have restrictions in terms of their overall capital market exposure and also in terms of the quantum of loan against shares.

While RBI regulations cap such funding at 50% of the value of shares pledged, generally additional margin is kept aside so that there is no need to top-up when the markets fall.

What is Promoter Pledging?

• Promoter pledging refers to the practice of promoters giving their shares as collateral to financial institutions to raise funds to meet short-term capital requirements or, at times, even for capital expansion when other avenues are difficult to tap.
• Many do not view such pledging as a good practice, since any significant fall in the market could lead to the pledge being revoked by the lender and the shares being sold in the open market.
• Interestingly, while the benchmark Sensex fell a little more than 3% between December 31 and March 31, the value of pledged shares fell more than 21% from Rs. 3.04 lakh crore to Rs. 2.40 lakh crore over the same period.
• Shares which are pledged are more vulnerable than the market. Such shares have a tendency to react much more than market movement. And if a company whose shares are pledged is part of the derivatives segment, then it is a walking signboard inviting trouble.
• Incidentally, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for companies to disclose to the stock exchanges every time such a pledge is created.

• The finance ministry is in discussion with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for relaxation of norms regarding stressed asset resolution that was announced. This follows representation by large banks to the ministry officials as they worry about pressure on profitability due to the revised guidelines.
• RBI’s mandate to implement a resolution plan even if the loan is overdue for a day, has in particular upset banks. RBI had also mandated that if the solution plan was not implemented within 180 days, bankruptcy process should be initiated. Banks have to make 50% provision for accounts that are referred to the NCLT for insolvency proceedings.
• According to bankers, the conditions of the resolution plan, as laid down by RBI, are so stringent that it will increase provisioning requirement. That is, banks have to set aside more capital. RBI had issued a circular on February 12 outlining a new mechanism for stressed asset resolution which could result in rise in provisioning requirements.
• According to bankers, the Indian Banks’ Association has made a recommendation to the central bank to revise the guidelines. Separately, a group of bank chief executives have also met finance ministry officials to highlight their concerns.
• According to RBI norms, if the principal or interest is overdue for one day to 30 days, the account is identified as Special Mention Account – 0 (SMA-0) category.
• If it is overdue for 30 to 60 days, it comes under the SMA-1 category and if it is overdue for more than 60 days, till 90 days, it falls under SMA-2 category. If a loan is not repaid for more than 90 days, it is classified as non-performing asset (NPA).

• Navigation satellite IRNSS-1I was flown into space from Sriharikota space pad in the early hours of Thursday. The 1,425-kg satellite will shortly become the eighth satellite to join the NavIC constellation of Indian regional navigation satellites.
• The launch completes the first phase of the constellation, K.Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said after a 19-minute flight put the satellite in a precise initial orbit. It was put to orbit on the PSLV-C41 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh at 4.04 a.m.
• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), dubbed India’s own GPS, has been designed to provide precise information on position, navigation and time related to objects or people. The eight satellites have a civilian and restricted military/security application to aid security and disaster management and fleet monitoring on land, air and sea.
• Built for a 10-year stint in space, the IRNSS-1I is expected to be ready for work in about a month’s time, after routine orbit manoeuvres and tests, ISRO officials said after the launch at 4.04 a.m.
• The NavIC constellation is going to create history and make innovative applications for the entire community of position-based services, especially the under- served and un-served. ISRO is developing many applications, and industry and institutions should take them to users.
• ISRO teams returned to launch this mission in a record 14 days after the communication satellite GSAT-6A on March 29. However, IRNSS-1I was flown from the older, first launch pad.
• ISRO launched the first seven navigation satellites — IRNSS-1A to 1G — between July 2013 and April 2016. Although 1I is the ninth to be built and launched for the NavIC fleet, the previous satellite, 1H, was lost in a faulty launch last August.
• 1I and 1H were planned as backups but became necessary after all three imported rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed in orbit. All seven satellites are required for accurate, 24-hour information from the fleet.
• Both 1I and 1H were fitted with corrected atomic clocks. ISRO involved a consortium of six Indian industries in their assembly, integration and testing at Bengaluru — an exercise that will be replicated in coming missions.
• Once the IRNSS-1I was ejected from the rocket, its solar panels opened out automatically. At the same time, engineers at ISRO’s facility at Hassan in Karnataka took control of the satellite.

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Context

• Technology can help achieve it but mind-sets must change too
• The last fortnight saw a lot of high level activity on health care. April 7 was World Health Day, which has the theme of Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere.
• On March 24, which is observed as World TB Day, India set itself an extremely ambitious goal, that by 2025, not as far off as you may think, India will completely eradicate TB (“Zero deaths, disease and poverty due to TB”).

Consider the facts:

• The disease kills an estimated 4.8 lakh Indians every year, or 1,400 every day.
• India adds the most number of TB patients every year 2.9 million, or 27% of the world’s total.
• Worse, it is also home to the largest number of TB patients who are resistant to multiple drugs commonly used to treat the disease.
• India has a quarter of the world’s close to half a million multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients.
• According to the Global TB Report of 2017, treatment success rate among MDR-TB patients in India is about 46% and the death rate is around 20%.

What does it mean to achieve the goal of a TB-free India by 2025?

• For starters, India needs to achieve a ten-fold increase in the reduction rate of TB every year, from the current baseline of 217 per 100,000 population (in 2015) to 44 per 100,000 population in less than a decade.
• According to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB elimination, released last year, this will also involve reducing the mortality rate due to TB from the current 32 per lakh population to just three.
• According to data in the NSP, this will require upping the number of patients actually notified as TB patients from the current 1.7 million to 3.6 million within the next three years.
• That may not sound difficult but the NSP report says that the proportion of identified “targeted key affected population” undergoing “active case finding” needs to be 100%.
• In 2015, this was zero. Targeted key affected population means health workers actively go and test those identified as vulnerable to TB the poor, the malnourished and those residents in areas where TB is endemic.

Can India’s creaky health care system, even with global funding and support, take this number from zero to 100% in five years?

• One of the key problems in tackling TB lies in ensuring that patients, once identified, actually take the prescribed course of medication.
• Medicines are not really a problem, and are provided free to patients.
• But the course of treatment is long: typically six months to a year.
• India largely follows the WHO-prescribed DOTS system (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course) to deal with this problem.
• This means that the patient will have to come to the treatment centre for medicines, which will have to be taken in the presence of a health worker and certified.
• This sounds good on paper and does work to some extent (which is why India’s success rate is higher than the global average) but there are problems.
• For the poor, a trek to the health centre usually means loss of wages.
• And if the patient cannot make it due to travel, marriage, or livelihood commitments, the treatment is missed, leading to higher drug resistance and a more persistent problem to solve.

Technological solutions

1. Global software giant Microsoft, for instance, has developed a programme called 99DOTS.

• In this, each dose is placed in an individual blister pack.
• Once the patient opens the pack and takes out the pill, a telephone number is seen.
• All she has to do is give a missed call to that number to log that she has taken the drug.
• Since the number is visible only after the drug is taken out, there is a high chance that the patient has actually taken the dose.
• Missed doses trigger SMS alerts and phone counselling by health workers.

2. Delhi-based ZMQ Development

• A technology-based social enterprise which was recognised last month as The Hindu BusinessLine’s Change Maker of the Year in Digital Transformation, has come up with an even more foolproof solution.
• It uses the Video Observed Therapy approach.
• Patients shoot a selfie video while taking the dose at home with the smartphone provided by ZMQ and upload it.
• This gives a visual confirmation that the drug is taken. Missed doses trigger alerts and interventions by pre-identified support volunteers in the community.

This is the kind of mindset change that is needed if India is to achieve its ambitious health goals.

Nothing here for today!!!

Question 1. Consider the following statements:

1. According to RBI norms, if the principal or interest is overdue for one day to 30 days, the account is identified as Special Mention Account – 0 (SMA-0) category.
2. If a loan is not repaid for more than 60 days, it is classified as non-performing asset (NPA).

Which of the above statements are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

See

H. UPSC Mains Practice Questions